Bonsai is defined in many words or very few. You can speak of the practice or you can speak of the art. But I would have to agree with what Walter had said. I found that very accurate to how I feel.

I do like all the comments I have received over the years pertaining to bonsai and myself.

"Leave that in the ground""Bonsai is weird""What the heck are you talking about, CHIM pAK OO, ACer PLa-mat-ma, What about rent""No more trees in this yard please""No, you cant borrow 3k to go to Bath""Yes I'm still listening""So it's like fun for you........ oh"

AND MANY MORE!

Thank the Gods my Heather has been supportive. I'm sure it's been hard to support

Top post Joe! I particularly liked the- Bonsai is weird statement, Kind of reminds me of my dad when he comes to visit. How’s the trees? He’ll ask. Fine. I’ll reply knowing full well he just don’t get it.

what is bonsai to me, very hard to tell I geuss.More of a feeling, relaxing enjoying nature in small size.And ofcourse meeting nice friends once in a wile, that have the same ideas about small trees. (Not like the wife, what did you spend on it and so on )

BACKGROUND STORY (since I've been absent LONG TIME and most of you don't know me)15 years ago, I would have agreed that Bonsai is for rich men. I do not enjoy caste politics.

12 years of uprooting and traveling, I learned that Bonsai is clearly NOT for gypsies. Bonsai requires some semblance of stability for healthy roots.

IN THE MOMENTI miss plunging my fingers in to soil to feel the cool moistness of nursery soil and the coarse texture of bonsai soil. I missed getting wood dust under my fingernails and all over my long hair from carving deadwood. My Japanese dolls (my originals like the Spring Geiko in my avatar and my pre-1900s heirloom Imperial, Musha and peasant Ningyo), my origami, the heirloom woodblock prints, the Hakata ceramics, the ancestor stones, miss the company of their living bonsai companions.

MY SHORT DEFINITIONBonsai for me is a very personal journey. I do bonsai to honor the past. To remember and respect the arts of elders who no longer walk the earth. To remember the disappearing landscape that has been urbanized. To remember the blessings of heaven and earth. Bonsai is pure bliss.